When Architect James Joseph of Indesign stumbled upon a rocky site amidst thick vegetation, marked by huge rocks and boulders, making the terrain unfit for cultivation, he realised he had the perfect site to build his farmhouse, merging the structure totally into its surroundings. Thus emerged his award winning project Elakadu Vasathi in Kottayam, Kerala, the residence serving as a classic example of how to minimise the use of natural resources, diminish the impact of the built space on the site and its surroundings while also keeping the construction time and cost minimal.
Given the uneven topography of the site, Joseph decided to come up with a design that would use the rocky terrain as the foundation with the steel plates used in the structure directly bolted into the rocks. The structure, built using square tubular sections, permits dismantling when required and also the flexibility to alter without wastage, keeping with the philosophy of minimal intrusion, minimal wastage and minimal impact on nature. In fact, the construction occurred without a single truck load of soil taken out or brought in.
The entrance foyer of the farmhouse, with the structure fused deftly into the landscape. | Photo Credit: Sijo
Reducing cost and wastage
Besides being locational sensitive, the individual elements in the structure reveal minimal cost and material use. The ground plus one structure has the staircase steps carved out of the existing rock formation, minimising the cost of construction while lending a rustic flavour. The windows and doors too are made using steel tubular sections which require only welding as against the conventional carpentry work. “This once again reduces cost and labour as well as time besides permitting easy dismantling when required”, points out Joseph.
The expansive glass walls, enclosing the large free flowing living area to merge seamlessly with the lush green landscape, come with similar intent of minimising wastage. “Glass panels normally come in the size of 8x4 feet and when used for the walls, it can result in sizeable wastage. To avoid this, the size of each panel segment was altered to 6x2 feet”, explains Joseph. “The changes may be small but wastage was minimised by merely paying attention to this detail.”
View of the cot in the bedroom made with wood sourced from the site, and the inner lay of the roof | Photo Credit: Sijo
Cutting heat ingress
Even when a site abounds in greens and the emerging structure is ensconced in it, heat ingress can still occur depending on the specific orientation as well as seasons. Recognising this, Joseph came up with the solution of using the green- rated Everest Hi-Tech roofing sheet, teaming it with a layer of jute in the under-sections, thereby ensuring the interiors remain naturally cool.
“These also aid in sound proofing as they are not metal sheets”, he adds. Incidentally, the jute was purposefully sewed on to the under-sections of the roof to enable easy changing when need arose. While these prevent heat ingress from the roof, Joseph further used the green-rated Everest Rapicon panels for the outer walls to prevent heat from penetrating through the walls.
Flexible interiors
The interior lay of the residence is equally flexible and green in its design, the free flowing living area blending seamlessly into the exterior greens, the demarcation between the interiors and exteriors effectively blurred. Further, the living area is multi-functional in use, where the dining seating also doubles up as a bench seat for the living area.
The seating elements in the dining and living area are also flexible to be converted into an extra bed for guests. Likewise, the backrest of the television which covers the cables is also designed to convert into a bench when extra seating is solicited in the living room. “Besides the multi-functional spaces, the furniture is also custom designed to offer similar multiple use”, states Joseph.
Flexibility in structural members
This multi-functional feature does not stop with furniture and the lay of the spaces, but extends to encompass structural members too of the building. Thus, the square tubular sections used in the structure double up as door and window frames to take the load, removing the need to place separate frames for the shutters. In the same vein, the Everest HP high density cement boards used for flooring, serve as the platform for the walls while also doubling up as a cot for the bedroom on the upper level. No separate staircase exists for the twin bedrooms housed on the mezzanine, with merely a bridge passage connecting the bedrooms to the verandah at the lower level.
Wood sourced from site
Though the doors and windows were made using steel tubular sections, furniture in the residence comes in wood. “The entire furniture in the residence was made using the wood from the Manjiyam tree which incidentally is the only tree cut to clear the area for the structure”, says Joseph. Even while using this timber from the site, Joseph was mindful of wastage. “Timber in its natural form has its own minor defects and many times these sections are wasted while making exotic furniture. We dispensed with such waste, using the timber as it is, making the furniture according to its natural profile”, adds Joseph.
Thus, timber identified with minor defects was converted into coffee tables while the solid wood dining table comes with a classy pattern that is tuned with the irregular shape of the timber. “The gap coming between the two logs of wood used was sealed with polycarbonate sheet with an LED light underneath, retaining in entirety the original profile of the timber”, points Joseph.
Salvaging waste
For Joseph, the concept of green did not stop with merely minimising use of resources but extended to putting waste to constructive use. His structure displays this philosophy amply. Broken waste tiles were sourced and used in artistic patterns on walls and flooring while the kitchen counter too reveals similar use of these tiles, putting waste to good use. Paper tubes used for hoarding sheets are always discarded and even burnt. Joseph salvaged these and converted them into LED light fittings. The cut waste of the tubular sections was further designed as garden lighting.
Given the core flexible intent of the design, the structure can be expanded easily or dismantled if required. “The panels on the outer walls are mounted on a track to enable easy expansion. The design and materials used permit easy dismantling and reuse, thus minimising the impact on nature”, sums up Joseph. Elakadu Vasathi is the recipient of the prestigious IIA National Award (Residences) 2021.
